I have touched a nerve lately on the subject of the teachers striking. Let me start by saying, I am not a teacher, I chose not to be a teacher, and I do value the teachers that my children have and My friends who are teachers as they hold a lot of merit in my eyes. They educate and help raise our children. That is invaluable in my eyes. The point I have obviously been unclear in making is that in all the children are the ones being affected the most. I hope at some point very soon, the teachers union, and the government will come to an amicable agreement. This is all I have to say on this matter. I apologize if I offended any teachers as this was not my purpose in expressing my opinion. As someone put it "I am a lioness who is protecting her children"
Todays post is a very important one to me and I do hope that all of you read it and read it carefully. Alot has happened over the past few days, weeks, and months, that have led up to this post. Events that have happened or are happening in the world. People, stop for a second and pause to remember these events.
There was a time in life when things seemed easy, were easy, life was fun, people got along, or at least that's what I want to think. People had jobs, were happy they had jobs, and felt secure in their jobs. Lots of people are feeling the tough economical times, and find themselves living paycheque to paycheque. People are battling an illness that everyone is to afraid to talk about.
Today as I sit here in my house, feeling under the weather and looking out to a cloudy dreary day I have to think about all these issues. I go back to when the life ahead of me was an adventure. Growing up I longed for marriage, children, a job I loved, and enough money to live comfortably. What I never dreamed of was a life of suicide, losing my dad, constant money troubles, people shooting up schools & malls, it's terrible.
Now I'm an adult and have a family of my own, my opinion and values have changed. Things that were once important to me, are no longer. My opinion towards mental health has been supreceded by my own life experiences, my oblivion to the world around me has been changed by tragic events that unfold almost daily in the world, and my concern for making ends meet has been a constant struggle.
Life in general is seeming to be alot harder than what I signed up for.
Let me start with the fact that people are losing jobs at an increasing rate, people are living off nothing, and there are people struggling to just keep food on the table. Yet we fight over wages, paid sick days, and the ability to negotiate a contract. Everyday our unemployment offices are flooded with people who have anything from a highschool diploma to a university degree, who can not find work. Factories are closing all over the place because the items we depend on can be made for pennies in foreign lands. Students are spending half their early adulthood in school to educate themselves and can't get a job. There are not enough doctors, and in our automotive industry we have people who have worked for decades building us reliable vehicles in our backyard and are now out of work with a days notice so that the big 3 can save a buck. What ever happened to supporting local?? How about employing local? Money talks! I know it, and you know it. It's just unfortunate that this is what we have all come to. I know, times have changed and I know that things cost more and people make less. That my friends is the world we have all created. People have let the all mighty dollar shadow their fundamentals. In my opinon.
Over the past year it saddens me to say that I have seen far too many lives lost at the hand of someone suffering mental illness who had access to a gun(s). In the past week, I have paid close attention to CNN watching the coverage in Connecticut. Unfortunately this horrific event is not the first of it's kind. In my opinion the shooter doesn't even deserve the time I am taking to write this, however the fact of the matter is a sane person does not commit an act like this. Mental Illness is all around us, and it's scary for all involved. It's scary for the person it affects, the people around them, and society at large. It is such a diverse disease, and I guess the best way to explain it is to think of cancer. You can say you have cancer, but there are 200 different types of cancer that can affect a person. You can say you have mental illness, and the list of 'types' is endless. It's sad to think now that after losing my dad I sat in my own bubble of depression and didn't talk about it. Makes me even sadder to think about all the hundreds of thousands of people in the world who are sitting in that same bubble right now.. Wondering how to cope. Some will commit suicide, some will reach out for help or write a blog, some will grab a gun and do the unthinkable, and others will just continue to live in that bubble afraid to speak out. If more people talked, if more people listened and if more people reached out, maybe a few more people would pop that bubble and reach out for help. I'm not going to save the world with this blog, hell I'm probably wearing out my welcome with some of my readers. The point is I did reach out, I did ask for help, I found a way to express myself through writing and it has been a saviour. Now I am determined to help someone else. People don't have to be afraid of speaking out, they have to be afraid of NOT speaking out. It's scary to think that someone feels they have the right to grab a semi-automatic from the closet and make a class of 6 year olds their targets. This boy needed help and for whatever reason didn't get it. His resentment, anger, and sickness lead to the events that took place. There are kids being bullied so badly that they go home from school and hang themselves in the closets. What is happening to this world!
The way the world is going right now, makes me fear for the future of my children.. At their innocent ages of 6 & 4 I have shielded them from the media reports of the massacre in Connecticut. I don't even know how to begin to explain that to them. I want to keep them from the worries of the world, and protect them from bullies. They have seen me go through the worst time in my life, and I have talked to them in depth about my feelings and why I have acted the way I have. I assured them that we will get through this as I know we will, but I can't promise that I can get them through the dissapointments they are bound to face as they grow. What I can do is make sure they know that talking is the key, feelings are meant to be shared, and never to be afraid to speak up.
For all that's going on in the world, it is the Holiday season and we need to be thankful for the family we have.
I pray for the parents who have lost children, for the children who have lost a parent, and for those kids that are sitting in their bubble watching this killer being put into the spot light and planning their own legacy, I pray that someone can reach out to them before we see another tragedy occur. I pray for kids being bullied, for people struggling to provide a happy Christmas for their kids and not having the money to provide it, and for the people who believe they have it all, I pray that those looking for work find it, and that those who have work are thankful for it.
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas this year and hope that the New Year brings one less tragedy, one less war, one less impoverished family, tougher gun laws, and more awareness to Mental Health..
Jesse~
